The 682-foot-high wheel is scheduled to open in Chaoyang Park, Beijing, just in time for the 2008 Olympics. It will give up to 5,760 passengers per hour a fantastic view of the city and surrounding area. Each of the wheel's 48 capsules holds 40 people who can enter and exit while the wheel is in motion. Boarding stations—synchronized with the Great Wheel's tangential velocity—are located on both sides of the capsules.

The contract to power the wheel, recently awarded to Bosch Rexroth, includes drive, control, and safety functions. The drive system will consist of a powerful and almost maintenance-free hydraulic power unit. Hydraulic motors will drive 32 tires that will contact, under pressure, the 650-foot-diameter wheel, causing it to rotate at a constant speed of three revolutions per hour.

Bosch Rexroth is responsible for project engineering, shipment, and installation of the drive and controls system, as well as automation of the boarding stations. The Rexroth drive concept has already been operating successfully on the London Eye on the banks of the Thames, so far the largest great wheel in Europe.